VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sandman Hotel Group is proud to announce they are now accepting bitcoin as a valid form of payment. As the first Canadian hospitality company to accept bitcoin, guests can now make reservations at over 40 hotels across Canada using the online currency.
Bitcoin is the world's most widely used alternative currency with a total market cap of approximately $8.1 billion.
“Vancouver hosted the TED talk summit earlier this year. This event brought a diverse and tech savvy group of travellers and presenters to the city. Our hotels had a number of enquiries regarding payment through alternative payments including bitcoin. As a customer focused company with an eye on technology, we decided to incorporate this emerging technology as a payment option,” said Salim Kassam, Vice President of Marketing for Sandman Hotel Group.
“There is a great deal of concern regarding the fluctuation in values of bitcoin. This can be seen to a certain extent in any traditional currency. Bitcoin has seen larger fluctuations; however, we mitigate this by taking an instantaneous exchange value and converting them to Canadian dollars."
“We feel that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies may be here to stay. We can tell you without question that more and more of our customers are seeking to pay with this currency, and our job as hoteliers is to be accommodating to the changing needs and requests of our guests.”
Sandman has partnered with bitcoin payment processors Coinbase for the initiative. Coinbase is an international digital wallet that allows you to securely buy, use, and accept bitcoin currency.
To make a reservation using bitcoin is extremely simple. Guests visit Sandman’s website and select bitcoin as the payment option. An e-invoice is sent to the guest and they accept and transfer their bitcoin payment into Sandman’s bitcoin account which is hosted by Coinbase. Once the payment is confirmed, so is the reservation.
To find out more about Sandman Hotel Group, go to www.sandmanhotels.com.
About Sandman Hotel Group
Sandman Hotel Group is a collection of Canadian and UK hotels owned by Northland Properties Corporation. With head office based in Vancouver, the company currently has 44 properties across Canada and the UK under the brands Sandman Inns, Sandman Hotel & Suites, and Sandman Signature Hotels & Resorts.
About Coinbase
Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase is a bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with the new digital currency bitcoin.
